Saturday, January 15, 2011

UVM Runs Past UMBC In Second Half

After struggling against UMBC’s zone in the first half, UVM used an 11-0 run to open the second half and a 24-2 run to close the half to win by 37 points at home. The win pulls UVM to 3-1 in conference, an important win considering 3-0 Binghamton travels to play 3-1 Maine at 3:30 ET on Saturday. The Cats then go on to play Maine Tuesday night in what could be a battle of first place teams.

The scoring was again balanced on Saturday at Patrick Gymnasium, with Brendan Bald scoring 16 and Evan Fjeld and Joey Accaoui chipping in 15. Accaoui hit a few big three pointers in the second half, including two on back-to-back possessions. They were sorely needed, as the team has a tendency to shoot a lot of threes and not make so many. This game was no different, the Cats shooting 6-21 from 3-point range.

The Cats have a way of playing down to their competition’s level, and this is exactly what happened in the first half. The offense often seemed lethargic to go along with a series of calls that went against the Cats at the end of the first half. Coach Lonergan nearly drew a technical as a result of these suspect calls. The second half was a nice sign of life- they outscored the 1-16 Retrievers by 35 points in the half alone.

UVM needs to prove to them self that they can blow out teams like UMBC so that they can take care of business in the early rounds of the conference tournament. There is no reason they should only be outscoring a one-win team by two points in 20 minutes of basketball. Fortunately, this lackluster performance was corrected in the second half.

Tuesday will be a big game, regardless of whether the Black Bears are 3-2 or 4-1. Time to go to work.

About Me

I was born and raised in Vermont and I have been a UVM basketball enthusiast since the early 2000's. I recently graduated from Bard College in upstate New York, and then moved to Austin, Texas. While I have no problems with burnt orange, I will never get over green and gold. This blog aims to celebrate The Beasts of America East: the Vermont Catamounts.